with that little bit of a commercial, i will turn the agenda over to my colleague brian lamb. [applause] brian: james, what role did this institution right here play in your book on john quincy adams? james: that is easy to answer. i have to say one of the reasons i'm here is i am so grateful to the massachusetts historical society and the adams project. the gentleman to my left is the person who made it possible for me to not have to spend any time at the massachusetts historical society because everything has been digitized. i remember when i first thought i would write the book, i thought i would have to spend three months some boston looking at whatever it is one had to look at. then i discovered that the entire 17,000 pages of john quincy adams's diary had been put online in its handwritten version, and that right before i started researching this, the first 15 or so years of his dairy had actually been rendered into type script. so between those things and the fact that adams's son charles francis adams produced a version of his diaries which has between a third or two fi

one was a collection of brian lamb's 30 years of interviews for sunday night programs. some of them were the top presidential historians alive today and the books they have done spending often years of their lives. that was one idea to use the basis of his interviews for the election. it is it was a survey of presidential leadership. we spent an entire year on the ro road. we were live from the location doing a big production indoors and in houses they are telling the stories of the presidents. these three historians who have become deer friends, doug last brinkly, richard norton schmidt who has been on pbs and c-span. he is currently living in grand rapids michigan working on the biography of gerald r. ford. and edna greene medford who is the dean of the department and is a specialist of reconstruction era of american history. we went to them and said we spent all of this time amassing these really anecdotal stories about the president and it would be nice to put a capper on this, so we devised a survey. and the question was how would we measure them. a lot of debate e

first of all, i am a c-span junkie and he is my hero. -- brian lamb is my hero. can we perhaps look back in history through the lens of our modern-day and rank some of the presidents from the past with a skewed perspective? we are talking a lot nowadays of social justice and how we treat each other which is fine. it seems like you have to take the presidents within the context of their times. is that something that we could have a broader discussion about? that is a very important point. it is something that everyone who dissipate abated had to wrestle with. how do you rank someone, take andrew johnson. andrew jackson for many years after he lived was considered an important progressive and that it was under andrew jackson that the franchise and the right to vote was expanded dramatically. he established the power of the presidency through his veto of the national bank. he established the democratic party as the party against big business. he established a number of things which were considered progressive and that was the way he was ranked up until the last 20 o

and finally we are joined by brian lamb. ceo and chairman of c-span. his interviews have been the basis of nine books. brian has visited, every presidential grave site, as well as every vice presidential grave site in the country, and we will have to ask him about that in the course of this interview. please join me in welcoming our panel. first question for historians you've also written about abraham lincoln and garfield, you have a day job as a practicing low lawyer, what this pushes you to write about presidents in general. >> i have been writing history since the 19 eighties, what truman and james garfield, when i was a young lawyer in washington i was working for the senate governmental affairs committee. as a junior lawyer i was assigned to work on a bill that became a civil service reform act, that was the project that was put on my my desk. after working on that bill every speech, every memo every report started with almost the exact same sentence. this is the most important update, since president james garfield was shot by a disappointed off

i said, this is good, she knows it is brian lamb. brian: so far. harold: mr. mb, i've always wanted to meet you. i have to tell you, i can never go to sleep until i watch you on tv. brian: to tell you how bad it is, since i have been in new york, i was walking down the street yesterday, and a couple walked by me and as they walked by me, the woman said, that is john mccain. [laughter] brian: back to presidents. i really want to ask you this question, if you had to pick between fdr and lincoln, what would you do? you are working. harold: who's writing the check? they, obviously, belong in the top 3. roosevelt dealt with two emergencies, in a state of diminished health, which i find extraordinary. lincoln destroyed his own health working for four years on the existential crisis that challenged the country and determined whether it would survive. so, i would like to get them both in a room and talk to them both, but i don't choose. i'm privileged to have created an association with lincoln and to have had this thrust on me unexpectedly four years ago and get to wo

i need to do what i was trained to could, which is in the brian lamb school of questioning, ask you the questions that aren't on there. so margaret. where did you grow up? >> i grew up in little rock, arkansas, connie. >> how did you make the move from little rock, saarkansas, where did you go to school? >> northwestern university. >> how did you do that. >> because i wanted to go to a big city, somewhere other than the south and i got in. [ laughter ] >> how did you choose history? >> you know, one of the reasons i chose history is my high school was little rock central high school. >> ah. >> and i was in my senior year was the 30th anniversary the fall of 1987 was the 30th anniversary of the crisis at century -- central high. and it was a time in high school was a time we were all being made very aware of that history where, that certainly within the walls of the high school were reckoning with that history and by that point it had become a majority, minority very socially economic diverse high school and really understanding my own personal connection to some place that played such a

and this is something that c-span founder brian lamb argued. in an oral history, recounting how he sold the idea of c-span to cover what congress was doing to quote/unquote turn the lights on congress, he told people in the cable industry, that only by becoming a player in the news could c-span challenge the authority and the power that nbc, cbs and abc ultimately had. and he was right. c-span launched in 1979 and politicians debated how cable should be used and not if it should be used, and the politicians that once dismissed the industry because they're broadcasting buddies didn't like us, eventually saw cable television as a tool for political advancement and they forged relationships with the industry that were at times collaborate and at times very contentious. but they were always very consequential. and the process, as political leaders are becoming very eager to manipulate the cable dial. the style of government, and how they were communicating and engaging with their constituents became transformed by the core ideas of a market populis

it is such an honor to welcome back to the constitution center the great founder of c-span, brian lamb. [applause] >> he is america's greatest interviewer. i was honored to be interviewed by him for this book, as were my colleagues. welcoming him back to the center is so meaningful. now to introduce this program, it is a special pleasure to welcome back to the center, because susan has been here so many times, susan swain, among her many other virtues, a philadelphia woman. her relatives are here. please welcome susan swain. [applause] to be it is a delight back. i always have the bad luck to follow him. it is hard to replicate that enthusiasm, but we are delighted to be here once again. to welcome you all as you heard, this is my hometown, and in addition to our partnership with the constitution center, and we have the shared vision of informing you, although we do it in different ways, i am delighted to have some of my family members here, which makes it a very special occasion. guess what? it is c-span's 40th anniversary. the house of representatives went on television for the first

and it's an honor to welcome back, the founder of c-span, brian lamb. he is america's, greatest interviewer, i was honored to be interviewed by him, for my peace on the book, as well as my colleagues, and welcome back to the center. and now to introduce this program, it's a special pleasure to welcome back to the center, because susan has been here so many times, susan's wayne, she is among her many other virtues, she is a philadelphia woman born and bred. harasser. here please welcome susan's wayne. >> it's a delight to be back to the constitution center. it's hard to replicate that enthusiasm. and welcome you all here as you heard this is my hometown and in addition to our wonderful partnership that the constitution center and we have a shared constitution to provide information about government. i have my family members here today, that makes it a special occasion. this is c-span's 40th anniversary, 1979 in march they went on television for the first time, in the cable television industry private industry, created a service called c-span to bring con

it is an honor to welcome back to the national constitution center, the great founder of c-span, brian lamb. [applause] he is america's greatest interviewer. i was honored to be interviewed by him by a piece of this book , as were my colleagues, and welcoming him back to the center is so meaningful. and now to introduce this program, it is a pleasure to welcome back to the center, because susan has been here many times, susan swain. among her many other virtues, she is philadelphia born and bred. please welcome susan swain. susan: thank you. it is a delight to be back at the constitution center. we are delighted to be here again. and to welcome you all here. as you heard, this is my hometown, and in addition to our wonderful partnership with the constitution center -- and we have a shared mission of informing you about the government, although we do it in different ways -- i'm delighted to have my family members here today. thank you for coming today. guess what? it is c-span's 40th anniversary. television industry, private industry, created a service called c-span to bring congress into yo

such an honor to welcome back to the national constitution center the great founder of c-span, brian lamb. [ applause ] he is america's greatest interviewer. i was honored to be interviewed by him for my piece for this book, as were my colleagues, and welcoming him back to the ernt is so meaningful. now to introduce this program, it's a special pleasure to welcome back to the center, because susan has been here so many times, susan swain. she is, among her many other virtues, a philadelphia woman, born and bred, and her relatives are here, which is great. please welcome susan swain. >> thank you very much. it's a delight to be back to the constitution center. i always have the bad luck to follow him with that enthusiasm. and it's hard to replicate. we are delighted to be here, once again, and welcome you all here. as you heard, this is my hometown. and in addition to our partnership with the constitution center and we have shared mission to inform you about the constitution, though in many different ways. so guess what, it's c-span's 40th anniversary. 1979 in march, the house of represent

we're new in the brian lamb school of communication here and our goal is to help professors from across the country use the c-span archives which is now over 250,000 hours of american political history. in their classrooms and in their research. we do other things. but that's what we're concentrating on at this conference. i tweet at cj doubly and the center suites at the center for c-span. we'll be interested in following you as we reach out to specifically history professors across the country. who are interested in using the c-span archives in the classrooms and in research. here is what we're going to do today. we have three excellent panelists that all have different areas of interest under this topic. >> northwestern university. >> to northwestern? >> yes. >> how did do you that? >> i wanted to go to a big city. i wanted to be somewhere other than the south. and i got in. >> how did you choose history? >> you know, my high school is little rock central high school. and i was in my senior year was the 30th anniversary, the fall of 1987. 30th anniversary of the crisis at central hig

we're new in the brian lamb school of communication here and our goal is to help professors from across the country use the c-span archives which is now over 250,000 hours of american political history. in their classrooms and in their research. we do other things. but that's what we're concentrating on at this conference. we'll be interested in following you as we reach out to specifically history professors across the country. who are interested in using the c-span archives in the classrooms and in research. we have three excellent panelists that all have different areas of interest under this topic. they're going to speak for five to seven minutes and then take a lot of q&a. we're going to start with margaret owe naira. so there is her introduction. you can read it. i don't need to read it for you. i need to do what i was taught to do which is in the brian lahm school of questioning is ask the questions that are not on there. margaret, where do you grow up? >> i grew up in little rock, arkansas. >> how did you make the move from little rock, arkansas, to -- where did you go to school

she'll be joined by brian lamb, the founder and executive chairman of c-span and moderating and esteemed group of historians in discussing the american presidency. the american presidency is as you know a fascinating subject of inquiry in every possible way. in the constitution, there's not as much said about it as you might imagine. article i is quite long, ii much shorter and the key phrase is about as short as you can imagine. the executive power should be vested in a president of the united states of america. full stop. that's the first sentence and the key phrase in the second article of the constitution which describes the presidency. much of what we know today as the american presidency has come from experience, from precedent, from action and we are thrilled to have an opportunity to learn about that experience, that action. tonight, from a group of wonderful historians that i would like to tell you about tonight, joining mr. lamb and ms. william we'll be joined by dr. brinkley and edna greene medford. dr. brinkley is a presidential historian for cnn and an author of a book i'm e

caller: i have been with you since brian lamb started c-span.ng to be 88 years old, i live in northeast missouri. we have not had a single case of covid in our community. i have only been out four times in the last three months. for myit to get gas motorhome. i have one acre of lawn. ofan into a motorcycle club 60-year-olds. nobody wears a mask here. i am the only one that wears one. host: of 60-year-olds. why is it, do you think? you have seen your peers not wearing a mask. have you talked to them, have they told you why? caller: i don't go to the grocery store. i have a housekeeper that helps with my gardening. i have a flower garden where i have all kinds of help. but i don't go out. people here act that there is nothing going on, they just go about their business. closed, which bothers me, but they deliver books to people. so i keep busy. i don't mind being alone. books, as i have c-span, solitaire on my ipad, i am fine. i talk to people on the phone, text, keep in touch with my children and family. i don't mind staying at home at all. , the